Tomato prices go from Rs 60 to over Rs 90 a kg in days, supply from key states affected

In the past two weeks, prices of tomato, have gone up from Rs 50 to 60 per kg to Rs 90-100 per kg in local vegetable markets.

The wholesale rate, too, have gone up from Rs 40 per kg to Rs 55-60 per kg in one week.

The prices is unlikely to change for at least two more weeks till the crop is not received from key tomato growing places including Nashik in Maharashtra.

Every year from June to September the rates of tomatoes goes up due to off season .

But this year crop arrived late from Nashik due to heavy rains, which also damaged it to some extent.

Due to the rise in prices, homemakers have been forced to cut its daily usage.

“Tomato is used in the preparation of almost every vegetable and pulses, but due to sky rocketing price we are trying to use it less as possible these days,” said Sangeeta Sharma, a homemaker.

“We have been selling tomato between Rs 55 to 60 per kg in wholesale market and retailers are selling them at Rs 90 to 100 per kg for the past few days and it will continue the same for at least for 10 more days,” said a wholesaler Prem Kumar in Jalandhar’s Maksundan vegetable market.

Another wholesaler said, “We have been receiving very less supply of tomato from key growing states like Maharashtra, Karnataka and other southern states this year. Crops have been damaged in some areas due to heavy rain, which has affected the supply”.

Dimpy Sachdeva, president Arhtiya Assoication of Maksudan vegetable market, said that though high rate of tomato is a seasonal phenomena but this year the rates shot up much more high as compare to the rates which generally prevail in this off season.

He said that they are yet to get the crop from Nashik which got delayed by two weeks due to heavy rains there.